Part 1 – Fear is Common to All Mankind

This Article is part of a multi-part Study Series called Dealing with Fear.

Fear is common to all men, including Christians every bit as much as anyone... but this does not have to be so. Yes, fear is a natural reaction in us that works to keep us from harm, to be safe… but we as believers are often tempted with the “fiery darts” of thoughts intended to provoke fear. The source of these thoughts is the tempter, Satan, “the adversary.”

Consider here what Jesus said about the very nature of Satan, his modus operandi and his objective.

“Ye (Pharisees) are of your father the devil, and the lusts (desires) of your (false) father (the Devil) ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it (the progenitor of the lie program).” (Jn. 8:44)

Jesus said this to the Pharisees who were also trying to set him up so they could kill him. He told them “ye are of their father the devil… who is a liar and the father of it (lies).” This is important for us to understand because Satan is always trying to deceive us. He lies to all Christians about their true and secure identity “in Christ” through the false teachings claimed by the majority of the church at large.  He lies to affect how we will think about things… pushing a view that is contrary to the truth.

Many Christians struggle with great insecurities and fears because they have been listening to the lies of the devil, often as passed on by religion’s erroneous dogma and tradition. He uses religion’s errors to condemn them to make them insecure about their lack of religious spirituality or measuring-up to the denominational standards.

He majors in provoking thoughts of “self,” their self-image, to think about their body, wealth, or the car they drive, or the job they have. He preaches the world’s viewpoint.

We have a whole society, a world system built on lies. We have lies about what is beautiful and good, lies about what it means to be successful, lies about God, lies about creation, etc. Scripture says the Devil is both the “god of” and prince of this world” (Jn. 14:30) and source its systems that enslave man into a fallen mindset. We hear Satan’s lies as thought in our mind. The fact is that every emotion or feeling we experience is prompted by a thought. His thoughts in us produce fear, anxiety, distress; and in some unto the death of suicide. By contrast. Paul says, “the mind set upon the Spirit is life and peace (Rom. 8:6).

Why does Satan lie? He lies because since his defeat by the cross of Christ, he was rendered powerless. He only has the power of the lie. He ultimately wants to destroy us and at least keep us from walking in the calling that God has for us. His lies sometimes come from people who love us, from our family, from our churches or friends. Certainly, these lies come from the media that we are supposed to be entertained by.

This is important for us to understand. Not only will the enemy attack us with lies, but also, we need to recognized that we are most often speaking with people who have been lied to. They have accepted the lies of the enemy and are stuck in a spiritual trap. We will have to identify the lie and impart the truth of God’s Word to them; “that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, (those) who are (have been) taken captive by him at his will.” (2 Timothy 2:26).

Like Nehemiah, we must be able to identify the lies of the devil. Nehemiah was called of God to return from bondage in Babylon to “rebuild the city of Jerusalem and its walls.” How did he protect himself against the attacks of the enemy trying to hinder him? We will see that Nehemiah did it by discerning the lies of his enemy. This is important for all believers of all ages.

We can we have discernment like Nehemiah, so we won’t be deceived.

Discernment comes from knowing the facts of the Word of God. “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. (2 Tim. 1:7) Listen also to what Hebrews says:

“For every one that useth (drinks only) milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. 14 But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who By Reason of USE (Gk. hexis, practice) have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.” (Hebrews 5:13-14)

The writer of Hebrews here is describing believers as spiritual infants who have lived on “milk” and not the solid food of “the Word of God.” He says these believers have not matured because they did not constantly “USE” Scripture, thus they struggle to distinguish between good and evil, just like an infant would.

Hebrews is written to Messianic Jewish believers of Jesus who were being tempted to go back to the Jewish “law.” He writes to show them that the New Covenant is so much better; Christ is better than Moses; Christ is better than angels; Christ is better than Israel’s High Priest.

They couldn’t discern this because of their lack of spiritual maturity, so they therefore were being drawn back into the Old Covenant… being easily deceived by the evil one. Numerous Christians are like this today because they don’t study and use the words of the grace of God for this age. They may hear somebody preach it and maybe they read it on occasion, but they don’t know how to apply it because they don’t constantly use it to live by. Hence, they lack discernment and are prone to be deceived by Satan’s lies.

They have no discernment in their dating/marriage relationships. They have no discernment about how to respond when mistreated. They can’t discern what’s best for their future or their career because they haven’t developed a mature understanding of the Word of God. This opens the door for many deceptions.

In the context of spiritual warfare, Paul calls for believers to be girded with truth, which is referring to the truths of Scripture.

“Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;”
(Ephesians 6:14)

In ancient armor, it was the belt that girded or held all the other pieces of the armor together. Therefore, it is in knowing the “Truth” of “the Word of God,” that one will be alert to and protected from the enemy’s attacks.

This is true primarily because the mature believer would not be fooled by many of the enemy’s lies. Do you possess the belt of truth that girds you? By the knowledge of and that constant use of the truth, you will be able to discern the lies of the devil... even when they are spoken from the pulpits of today’s apostate church.